Life wisdom from Deadpool and Colossus

deadpool

When life ends up breathtakingly fucked, you can generally trace it back to one big, bad decision. The one that sent you down the road to Shitsburg. — Deadpool

Which is true… but hidden under the hood is the fact that big, bad decisions are the zoomed out fractals of the choices we make every-year, every-month, every-day, every-hour, and every-minute. Yet, at the same time, I cringe when people claim, “not everyone can be so perfect,” when things are going well. Repetition is the mother of skill because failure is the mother of all success.

Imagine the insanity of the scenario where an archer picks up his bow for the first time and gives up after the first shot he takes misses his mark. How many times in life do people get frustrated when they cannot accomplish the ultimate goal on the first attempt. Imagine the double insanity with the want to be archer missing the first shot with his bow and deciding darts might be more his game. Then, if he misses on the first dart throw — maybe he was destined to be an expert at pistol, and when that did not work of the first try, maybe it is time to give up on this whole target idea… Dieting, exercise, learning a new skill, whatever it might be is a road to be taken and not a sci-fi transporter ride from zero to everything.

Four or five moments — that’s all it takes to become a hero. Everyone thinks it’s a full-time job. Wake up a hero. Brush your teeth a hero. Go to work a hero. Not true. Over a lifetime there are only four or five moments that really matter. Moments when you’re offered a choice to make a sacrifice, conquer a flaw, save a friend — spare an enemy. In these moments everything else falls away… — Colossus

Despite where you might lay down the measuring stick and claim something took ten years to change you will still be able to track down the real change in a moment — the moment when the decision was made to do something different. It might be ten years of pain followed by the moment when you could finally say enough is enough — no more — the moment when you finally decide to pick the bow, stick with the bow, and start aiming at the target. Being the hero, however, is not hitting the target every time you pull back on the string. On the contrary, being the hero is deciding to be a little better than yesterday in getting closer to the target. Being the hero is getting closer to the target by learning from the skills of others and then applying your unique abilities on top of those skills. Being the ultimate hero is, in-turn, helping others who want to do the same succeed as well. Unless you really want to visit, and perhaps live in, Shitsburg — step up and start making those moments for yourself today.

(Originally posted on Medium)